GERMANY ~ Maulbronn Monstery - UNESCO ~

... Many views of one the most complete and best preserved enormous Cistercian medieval monastic complexes in Europe... within the medieval walls and towers, there’s a village square with the old half-timbered farm houses and administrative buildings... today they serve as the town hall, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a bakery, a book shop, the museum the visitor centre and more... architectural highlights include also the Romanesque monastery church, the Gothic cloister, and the fountain house...on the hill, the terraces and vineyards developed by the monks can still be seen... visiting this monastery looks like walking back in the Middle Age what makes that this site is now a world-famous landmark... Thanks Sabine!【ツ】

This former monastery was founded in 1147. It further developed from the 12th to the 17thC. The main church was built in a transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic. It was of fundamental importance for the dissemination of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe.

After the Reformation broke out, the Duke of Württemberg seized the monastery in 1504 and built his hunting lodge and stables there.

In the late 16thC, the monastery was converted to a protestant seminary, a boarding school for boys. It remains so today, though girls were allowed in from the 1970s. It’s a prestigious school, one that still requires students to be Protestants – and be able to show excellent academic performance.  

In 1993, the monastery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

Stamp

Baby Animals 

(Issued 10-06-2021)